What Comes Next?
by rhymeswithorangejuice
Summary: What would have happened if instead of going after Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black stayed home and took care of Harry with his boyfriend, Remus Lupin? I know, it's been done, but this is my twist on the concept.
1. Chapter 1

Sirius sank to his knees in front of the smoldering house, his breaths coming in ragged gasps.

"James,"

Tears ran down his face, and he didn't bother to wipe them away because James was dead. His best friend, his brother-

James. All because of that... _rat._

Harry. Harry still wasn't out of the house.

He stood up, ready to leap into the flaming building to save his godson, but the Aurors were coming out of the building now, and in their arms was Harry, _Harry_ , and he was alive, and they were handing him to Sirius and Lily's eyes looked up at him, and James's hair... Sirius looked past his looks. There was a fresh cut on the boy's forehead, shaped like a jagged line. Like a lightning bolt. The boy grinned up at Sirius, unknowing of the unspeakable things that had happened moments ago. "Pafoo," the boy murmured his first word.


	2. Chapter 2

"As you must know by now, Lily and James left Harry to you in the event that something horrible happened." said the Muggle lawyer. The unfeeling stupid muggle lawyer.

Remus should have come instead. He's mentally stable.

"I do," said Sirius, trying to keep his emotions back.

"You'll have to sign some papers, and you'll be on your merry way,"

"Merry way? How can I be merry when my best friend, my only anchor to this world was murdered by one of my other best friends? How can I sleep? How can you sleep?" yelled Sirius. Except he didn't. He didn't express his emotions because he knew Moony would kill him if he did. So he signed the papers with one of those muggle pens and took Harry home to Grimmauld place.


	3. Chapter 3

Indeed, it was a grim old place to grow up in, as Sirius knew, but he was determined to make it home for Harry, Remus, and himself.

So he ripped up the carpets, and took down the curtains that had been there since forever. He repaired, repainted. He wrote back the names of the people that had been blasted from the family tree by his mother. He broke his fingers by trying to wrench his mother's shrieking portrait from the wall.

Sirius disappeared for days on end. He came home drunk and high out of his mind, he dyed his hair all colors of the rainbow and let it grow down below his butt. He got tattoos all the way up and down his arms, of wolves and dogs and rats and stags. He never slept, you could see it in his eyes. He started walking away in the middle of slurred sentences, with no warning. He didn't show up for Remus's birthday, leaving Remus alone. They had no way to tell where he was or where had been or who he had been with. Sirius was a mess, because James was gone, James was gone, his brother. The man who had protected him from his cruel parents. The man who had taken him in when he was sixteen and alone, away from his abusive mother. And now James was gone, and he was back in the place where he had grown up, where all the most awful things had happened to him. He was floating through the air like a dust mote, with no way to tell which direction he would turn next.

He left Remus to raise Harry alone in the cold dark house, with no way to deal with his own problems. With no way to take care of Harry on full moons.

"Sirius, you need to get it together," said Remus one night after Sirius had come home more sober than he had been for days. "For Harry," he continued. "For James."

So Sirius cut his hair, wore no more leather jackets and went sober. For Harry. For James.

Remus was dealing with the trauma in his own way. He took care of Harry and wrote. He was hardly ever seen without quill and parchment in his hand, even when holding the baby. He taught Harry to walk and talk and read and write, and he always answered questions. He was the one that bought the new clothes and new toys. Harry and Sirius called him Moony, and they all held hands when going on walks, Remus in the middle.

Harry grew up fast, needing new shoes and glasses and clothes.

With his glasses Harry looked more like James every day, and seeing him, seeing _James,_ sent Sirius back into a downward spiral. Remus pulled him back with gentle kisses and caresses and whispering and murmuring. He stabilized Sirius, kept him from falling over the edge again and again.

Remus took a job at Hogwarts, teaching Defense Against The Dark Arts and coming home on the weekends. Sirius stayed home with Harry and took a day job in The Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Harry went to Muggle primary school, and hated every minute of it. When Harry couldn't take it any longer, Remus took him to school for the week. Harry loved Hogwarts, it's endless corridors hypnotizing him and capturing his interest.

Sirius dedicated his days to finding the man that he blamed for Lily and James's death, Peter Pettigrew. He ranted for hours at heads in fireplaces and at Remus. Remus had described Sirius as "manic" more than once, and it was true.


	4. Chapter 4

One day, when Harry was nine years old, the school called Sirius into the principal's office in Harry's school. "He's been doing strange things," said Mrs. Johnson, a strict lady nothing like Prof. Dumbledore. "He's been stealing erasers from the classroom-"

"Making them disappear?" Sirius interrupted, his eyes lighting up.

"Yes," said Mrs. Johnson, her face stiffening.

"Good man, Harry!" Sirius clapped him on the back. Harry blushed.

"He's been on the roof _twice,_ he's been giving the rest of the boys black eyes and convincing them not to tell what happened,"

"Pardon me, Ma'am, but they were bullying him. It's not his fault he's small," Mrs. Johnson gave him a dirty look. "And finally, Mr. Black, I'm not sure you're a good influence on Harry. I mean, is there even a mother?" Sirius stiffened, and Harry looked back and forth between the two authority figures. "Harry keeps making up imaginary friends,"

"They're not imaginary!" said Harry, his young voice interrupting what was sure to become a full blown screaming match. "Paddy, they think you and Moony are imaginary! They're not, Mrs. Johnson, they're not," the principal looked sort of horrified.

"Oh, Ma'am, that is Harry's pet names for me and... My husband, Remus Lupin," said Sirius, smirking at Mrs. Johnson's horrified reaction.

"Your... Husband?"

"My husband."

There was a silence, where the eye contact between Sirius and Mrs. Johnson was almost painful.

"Harry can no longer attend this school," they said at the same time.

As Sirius and Harry walked out of the school, Harry confused. "Why was Mrs. Johnson angry when you said Moony was your husband?" asked Harry, his little hand slipping into Sirius's large one. Sirius knelt down so he was eye level with Harry. "Some people don't think me and Moony should get married, because we're both boys." he explained, his face sad. "And me and Moony aren't actually married, Harry. We're not allowed to get married because some people don't think it's right,"

"But why? They're allowed to get married to the people they love," Sirius stood up. "I don't know why, Harry. Now, put your helmet on, we're driving on the road today." They climbed up on the motorcycle and rode away, Mrs. Johnson's disapproving face in the window behind them.


	5. Chapter 5

Harry ran through the halls of Grimmauld Place waving his toy wand and yelling spells. In the kitchen, Remus was packing Harry's lunch for the train and Sirius was ranting quietly to himself. "'Parents are reminded that first year students are not allowed their own broomstick.' Moony, that's ridiculous! In our time, everyone had a broom their first year, remember, Moon? Well, surely they'll let you bend a few rules, Harry, I mean, you're James Potter's kid, right? And mine and Moony's. You can bring your broom," He chuckled. He began to dust off his school books from his own first year, pristine and unused except for a fine layer of dust. "I was such a slacker my first year, Moon, look! Hardly touched at all. These are fine, we'll just have to cast a few spells to make them look brand new, and voila! No need to go to Diagon Alley,"

Harry ran into the room carrying his Nimbus 2000.

The broom had been his only birthday gift for his eleventh birthday a few months before. He had been begging for a broom for years, and he was just flying on Padfoot's old Comet 260 for the past few years. Moony had spent his savings on the broom, and Harry's face was so worth it. It was the best, the newest, the fastest ever made, and Harry would be the talk of Hogwarts on that broom.

"Harry, write to us!" said Moony as Harry got on the train, carrying his trunk and new owl. "Write every day," said Sirius, his hand on Moony's lower back. "Have fun!" yelled Moony. Sirius wiped away a tear, but Moony was stoic. "Is that Sirius Black?" said a voice behind him, and he whipped around, wiping his eyes. "Molly Prewett! Why, I haven't seen you in years!" said Sirius, reaching in to hug the short redhead. "It's Molly Weasley now," she replied. "Has it really been that long?"

"So you and Arthur tied the knot, huh?"

"We eloped right out of Hogwarts! Has it really been that long?"

"We should have gotten together! How many kids do you have, may I ask?"

"Seven," Laughed Molly, her hands gesturing wide at a sea of redheads. " _Seven?_ You and Arthur must have fun," chuckled Sirius. "Look who's here, Moon!"

"Molly," crooned Remus, hugging the shorter woman. "Have you two..." asked Molly, and Moony and Padfoot held up their left hands, showing matching rings. Molly gasped. "Arthur! It's Sirius Black and Remus Lupin!"  
"So it is!" crooned Arthur, shaking the two men's hands. "I hear you've gotten married to each other," Remus nodded, keeping his smile back.

"I hear you have seven children!" cried Sirius. "You must introduce us to them,"

"The two oldest, Bill and Charlie, graduated, so there's no need to bring them to the train station. "That's Percy, he's in fifth year. a prefect, naturally. And there's Fred and George, the twins, they're in third year, and that's Ron, he's a first year this year, and already taller than me." She chuckled. "and that's my girl, Ginevra, but we call her Ginny," Ginny waved.

"We just have Harry," said Remus, making eye contact with all the children. "He's in first year, right? Maybe Ron can join him in his compartment," said Molly, putting her hand on Remus's arm.

"I'm sure Harry would love that," he smiled.

"Send us an owl now and then!"

"We will," said Remus and Sirius at the same time, turning off the platform, heading home for the first time without Harry by their side.


	6. Chapter 6

The house seemed so empty as Sirius and Remus closed the door behind them. "He's not here," said Remus, sinking down onto one of the kitchen chairs. "I know," said Sirius, rubbing his shoulders from behind the chair. Remus stood up, almost knocking Sirius over. "Darling, let's get married,"

"We can't, Moony," said Sirius, grabbing Remus's shoulders to steady himself.

Remus put his head on Padfoot's chest, and they swayed, dancing to non-existent music. There was a loud crack as Kreacher apparated into the room. Sirius stepped away from Remus out of habit, flinching like someone was going to hit him. Remus grabbed his hand, and they both faced towards Kreacher.

"Filthy blood traitor, betrayer to the house of your fathers," muttered Kreacher, on his hands and knees scrubbing the stone floor. "Why didn't we hand his head on the wall when we arrived here?" asked Sirius, only half joking. "You know why," answered Remus, his eyes rolling. This had been almost a daily question from Sirius, who linked house elves to his mother subconsciously. He flinched when doors were opened, as if he expected his mother to walk through them. Remus knew that they shouldn't have come back here. Sirius had had so many terrible things happen to him in his ancestral home; his name blasted from the family tree by his own mother's wand.

Kreacher scrubbed the floor, muttering about mudbloods and blood traitors all the while. Moony and Padfoot turned away, still holding hands. With his free hand, Remus waved his wand and started some knives chopping carrots for soup. "I still can't believe he's gone," said Sirius. "I know,"


End file.
